Some Behind the Scenes Pics of the Day are destined to never leave Alcatraz… alive.

There are so many movies I haven’t seen that I begin to feel guilty rewatching movies I have, but it’s been so long since I’ve seen Don Siegel’s Escape From Alcatraz that I’m probably going to have to throw it in very soon.

There’s something great about Don Siegel’s work with Clint Eastwood that’s hard to pin down. From Dirty Harry to The Beguiled to this movie… maybe it was just Siegel reaching his apex as a director and Eastwood coasting effortlessly into his leading man stardom happening at the same time, but whatever the reason they worked magic together.

Today’s pic shows Siegel goofing around with Eastwood during the filming of Escape From Alcatraz. Hope you enjoy it!

Thanks to Steve Mitchell for sending this one along. Click to embiggen!

If you have a behind the scenes shot you’d like to submit to this column, you can email me at quint@aintitcool.com.

I really didn't think many people would speak up for it. It never seems to be mentioned when discussing Eastwood's portfolio...
I always try to watch this film when it comes on.
McGoohan knows how to play a cool-as-a-cucumber asshole.

That's what Eastwood and the awesome Siegel were. Eastwood often refers to Siegel as his mentor, and rightfully so. Siegel was a great director that came to prominence just before the "director's age" of filmmaking (Spielberg, Lucas, Kasdan, Coppola, etc.), but deserves to be mentioned regularly among those names. The thing with Siegel and Eastwood was that they knew exactly what they were doing. And it was beautiful collaboration. Among many, many others, Siegel directed the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" for God's sake! It was "Dirty Harry" that did it for him, and still makes him one of the greatest directors of all time. Historically, we (as humans) are incapable of recognizing history as it plays out before our very eyes. Yet this age of cinema that we now trudge through will be known as the "Corporate Age', and it is terrible. The only way this terrible "Corporate Age" of cinema will end is when somebody, anybody, files a monopoly lawsuit against these mega-corporations. The funny thing is, these fucking Comcast/NBC/Universal whatever-the-fuck companies turn less profit than Activision or EA. Yes, video games are currently the leading provider of original, groundbreaking entertainment, and they don't need Disney/ESPN/ABC because they are so much fatter than those losers. Good movies are a thing of the past, my friends. "Green Lantern" was the only flick I was looking forward to this year and I wanted to love it, but it was a fucking mess on the most fundamental of filmmaking reasons. Reasons I can't hold against Martin Campbell or Stuart Baird, who probably were so sick of producers crawling up their asses that they just did what they were told because they knew their reputations were safe in Britain. No, "Green Lantern" was a colossal turd because the WB hired comic book writers to write and produce the fucking thing. "Green Lantern" was God fucking awful and it didn't have a god damn thing to do with Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Mark Strong, or any other creative. Put the fucking blame on Greg (Fuckface) Berlanti, Michael (Cum Dumpster) Green, Marc (What The Fuck Am I Doing Here) Guggenheim, and Michael (SchmuckFuck) Goldenberg. Four motherfuckers that have absolutely zero business being in charge of a huge fucking movie. None of these dickhead, dong eating pricks can say that they directed "Memento", or fuck it - "Jaws", or any fucking movie that would inspire any kind of fucking confidence and these are the cunts that are telling Martin fucking Campbell (Casino fucking Royale, and fucking GoldenFuckingEye) and Stuart fucking Baird (fucking Superman: The Fucking Movie, and Outland (personal fav), and Casino fucking Royale - these are the fucking cunts that are telling these brilliant FILMMAKERS what the fuck they should be doing. These are guys that work on comic books (which I love), but they sure as fuck ain't movies. Yeah, duh, right? But you would be fucking surprised by the legions that don't understand this. Movies suck. They just do. And producers are the fuckers that carry that honor squarely on their fucking shoulders. Have a drink on me, you fucking pricks.

and the reason a lot of movies suck these days, is the source material. I know that's heresy on a site like AICN, but honestly, Clint Eastwood would have never made a movie like GL because fundamentally, it's a silly story that Shakespeare himself couldn't craft a compelling adult story from.
Clint Eastwood made movies in an era where adults made films for other adults. Now most blockbuster films are based on teen novels, comic books or toy lines. It's adults making movies for kids and overly nostalgic adults like Harry who can't seem to break out of a 10 year old mentality.

But have talked with a few people who've worked with him, and they say the same thing: his integrity on the set is 100%. If you work with him, his word is his bond. Period. Total clarity. A low-stress shoot, the ability to trust your boss, and respect for all the people around him. He tends to work with the same people again and again, or to put that another way, people WANT to work with him again and again. I've criticized Eastwood for some of his unconscious attitudes, but have absolutely nothing but the highest respect for him as a man, and a filmmaker.

Oh, I bet the Bard could have found a thread in Green Lantern that would have been mind blowing. I mean...the ring can make anything he thinks of? How about his unconscious desires? I can see either a tragedy of TEMPEST proportions, or a fantastical farce like MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM come out of a premise like that. GL was a piece of shit because the writers and producers were limited by their own lack of vision, not the core concept, which is just a spring-board for a writer. Genius will out.

Execution is everything. Premise will get you only so far.
Look at Batman: "It's about a rich guy who, as a kid, sees his parents murdered before his eyes. He grows up and decides to fight crime dressed like a bat". Some people have done great stories with that premise; others, not so much.
I, for one, would love to have seen a 1970's Clint Eastwood playing Hal Jordan. Actually, he kind of did in Firefox.

Clint Eastwood made movies in an era where adults made films for other adults. Now most blockbuster films are based on teen novels, comic books or toy lines. It's adults making movies for kids and overly nostalgic adults like Harry who can't seem to break out of a 10 year old mentality.

He was born in 1912, which makes him older than Lumet, Frankenheimer, and the other guys who cut their teeth on TV, but younger than all of the legends like Ford, Hawks, etc. He didn't really start directing until his late 30s, and only became semi-successful with Body Snatchers and The Killers (my favorite) at around age 50. If anything, Clint brought him increased relevance as he was heading into senior citizenship.